In Retrospect
by EmeraldOpals
Summary: Looking back, Sally realises it wasn't a mistake, after all. Percy/Annabeth


**A/N: Yes, I really adore Sally Jackson. An idea that hit me when I was just being lazy. Hope the work was worth it! Enjoy, lovely readers!**

"_I love you little. baby. _

_More than you could ever know._

_Grow up and make me proud one day. _

_You're all I have, sweetheart."_

Sally Jackson knows, as soon as her son is born, that this little boy would be the center of her universe.

Having made what could easily be the worst mistake of her life; Sally is determined to make one thing in her life go the right way for once. She had broken herself. Now it was time to build her life again.

She lies in the hospital bed, watching as the nurse finally gives her baby boy back and places a tray of cookies on her side table and leaves, smiling.

_Blue cookies, _she thinks. _What irony._

Holding the sleeping baby in her arms, she smiles sadly and softly kisses his head.

"Don't worry my little baby. We'll rebuild it all together."

_Two years:_

Percy's second birthday is, to Sally, nothing short of depressing. Of course, Percy himself couldn't be happier or more energetic about the sparse but beautiful decorations in their tiny apartment. Watching him play with a Barney birthday hat on her lap, she leans her head back onto the seat of the sofa, exhausted.

Despite what she tells the few people who worry about their future, she herself is unsure about whether or not she and her little boy would pull through.

Recently, she had had to stop working at the toy shop where she was already working overtime, having been laid off. It was coming to the point where she had to use coupons for haircuts, too. Sally blinks back tears as Percy turns around in her lap and reaches up to place his tiny hand on her cheek. She covers it in her own and kisses it, letting the tears flow freely after hiding them _for so long._

But the next morning she resigns herself to the fact that she was never meant for great things, and goes to Grand Central Station to apply for a job at Sweet on America.

Because she is Sally Jackson and she never loses hope, or wallows in it. She just lives.

_Four years:_

The real reason Sally Jackson loves going to Montauk, is because it's the place she remembers the one perfect day of her life: when she met him.

Percy shares her affinity for the sea, being the son of Poseidon. It was not an emotional attachment for him, just one that was in his blood and one which, much like her makes him feel at peace.

Sally sits in a weathered but comfortable chair on the porch of their tiny rented cabin watching the sun set and watches as Percy wades knee-deep into the surf and splashes happily. She is not concerned, knowing that no matter how hard he tries he would not be able to drown.

She is happier than she can remember being, which is not nearly enough. She worries about Percy day-and-night, knowing that her selfishness in keeping him away from camp endangers him.

Still, she is Sally Jackson, and she can be selfish about this one thing.

Especially as she has nothing else to live for.

_Eight years:_

When Percy is eight, Sally introduces him to his _(horrible, inhuman) _stepfather.

He acts delighted, she knows, only to make her happy, but it is only after Gabe leaves that she finds him crying silently at the foot of his bed.

"Percy."

He sniffles and rubs his eyes and tries to act like he's fine, for her, but fails miserably as she sits next to him and envelops him in a hug.

She soothes him for some time, but it is when he asks her something, when she wishes she could tell him the truth.

"Mommy, if you miss Daddy so much, why are you marrying Gabe?"

She looks into her little boy's beautiful green eyes (_which are so much like his father's)_ and run his fingers through his hair as he lies on his lap and falls asleep almost immediately.

And as she lets him sleep, turning out the lamp in his room, she wishes he noticed that his mother hadn't answered.

_Twelve years:_

It is after Percy comes home after his first ever quest that she really feels herself again.

He leaves a package for her that she knows is something that could help her.

And when she finally uses it, she knows that she is going to work harder from now on.

All because her son needs her, as much as she needs him.

_Sixteen years:_

Sally is appalled that she forgot her son's birthday.

_Of course, _says the little sarcastic voice in her head, _him leading his demigods friends in a war against the Titans could have nothing to do with it._

So it is around 8:30 when she and Paul call him on Annabeth's phone to wish him a happy birthday.

Her mother's intuition knows that something has changed between them and it wouldn't surprise her in the least if Annabeth and Percy were together when she called.

"Hello?" Annabeth picks up, laughing breathlessly.

"Hi Annabeth! It's Sally-"

"-and Paul!", Paul yells beside her.

"Yes, well, could I talk to Percy for a moment, please? You know it's his birthday and-"

"Say no more, Mrs. Jackson, he's right here", she says and Sally can hear even more laughing over the line as Annabeth hands over the phone.

"Hello?" Percy tone matches Annabeth's and Sally can't even remember the last time she heard him this happy.

After she and Paul wish him, they hang up.

And as she and Paul go to bed that night, Paul asks her something.

"Hey Sally, wasn't there something different about Percy just now?"

She smiles at him over the book she's reading and kisses his cheek.

Because, now, she knows, it is time for her to be happy with herself and let her life take its course.

_Twenty years:_

The year Percy turns twenty, he moves to another apartment, closer to Camp Half-Blood and Sally releases her second novel.

A week after the book release, Sally takes a break from promoting her book and she, Paul and Percy take a trip to the cabin that now belongs to them, to celebrate.

This time, she knows that she has gone a long way from the lost single mother she was sixteen years ago to the woman who has had her dreams realized.

As she watches Percy teaching Paul basic sword-fighting and trying (and failing) not to laugh, she feels she cannot be happier.

_Twenty-four:_

On the day Percy turns twenty-four, Sally calls him on a phone that he finally agreed to buy, realizing that being invulnerable and whatnot, a few monsters couldn't do anything to him anymore.

So she is stunned when he finally picks up her calls at eleven o'clock in the morning.

"Mm, hello?"

"Percy! Did you sleep in on your birthday?" she scolds, and even though Paul is singing the happy birthday song at the top of his voice, she can hear the ruffling of bedsheets and quiet, _feminine, _laughter, and knows that someone else is in bed with him.

"Hey mom", he says sleepily, and in her mind's eye she can see him running a hand through his hair tiredly.

"Happy birthday, little boy! I'm sorry if I interrupted your beauty sleep, and all, but-"

"Mom, you know you can call me at any time," he says, and as he says it his breath hitches and quietly moans _"Annabeth"._

Really, they must have thought that she was deaf.

She smiles to herself and says "Don't worry about it, Percy. I'll call you later, all right?

Paul and I are going to the beach today, to celebrate the bestseller thing. I made you a cake and everything, honey! My little _boy _is growing up-"

She hears him laugh and he responds. "I'll call you later, Mom. We're still on for Central Park at five, right?"

"Of course, sweetie. Call me back, okay?"

"Sure Mom. I love you."

"I love you too, baby boy", she says and, a split second before the line is cut, she hears a wave crash in the background and both male _and _female laughter, and knows exactly what is going on.

She grins evilly and plans to make this afternoon the most awkward of his life.

Just because Sally Jackson is a doting mother doesn't mean she can't torture her son with innuendo and whatnot.

. . .

That evening, her suspicions are confirmed.

Paul goes directly into the kitchen when they get to their cabin, and she goes to the main bedroom. Paul knows that something is up but when it comes to this sort of thing, he prefers to leave it to Sally.

And when she sees the hastily made bed and stray strands of long blonde hair, she laughs out loud.

After all, _a mother is never wrong._

She grins once more and goes to the kitchen, hearing Paul exclaim that there was fresh food in their fridge, considering they hadn't visited the cabin in almost six months.

_My baby boy, _she thinks and is finally at peace with the world.

**A/N: So... what do you think? Hot Not?**

**Please, tell me what you think!**


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